MESSINA, Giuseppe. San Cataldo, Sicily 6.1.1893 — Messina 28.6.1951. Father. S.J. Italo-French Scholar of Iranian and of History of Religion. Born near Caltanisetta in Central Sicily, son of the elder Giuseppe Messina and Francesca Sorce. Joined the Jesuits and studied philosophy in France and theology in the Netherlands, ordained priest…
MENSCHING, Gustav. Hannover 6.5.1901 — Düren-Lendersdorf (between Aachen and Köln) 30.9.1978. German Theologian and Scholar of Comparative Religion. Professor in Bonn. Son of Gustav Mensching (1869–1906), a farmer and trader, and Johanna Schubart (1874–1956; Anna Vogler of English Wikipedia is his grandmother). Studies of theology (Luth.), comparative religion, Indology and…
MENANT, Joachim. Cherbourg 16.4.1820 — Paris 30.8.1899. French Assyriologist, with interest in Iranian religion. Son of Joachim Menant and Amable Boissière, lost his father when 10. Educated in Cherbourg. He became a lawyer (studies at Caen) and worked in administrative positions in different towns (Cherbourg, Vire, Alençon, Lisieux, Evreux, Le…
MENANT, Delphine. Cherbourg 16.10.1850 — Paris 29.7.1932. Mlle. French Iranian Scholar. Daughter of the Assyriologist —> Joachim Menant (1820–1899). Studied under Darmesteter. Ph.D. She worked from 1900 in Musée Guimet, as “chargée de mission dans l’Inde”, where she travelled, together with her mother, in 1900–01, studying Parsis in Bombay and…
MEISEZAHL, Richard Othon. Weissenburg (now Wissembourg, Alsace) 16.8.1906 — Schladean, Sieg 27.4.1992. German (of Alsace) Tibetologist. For health reasons interrupted gymnasium in 1920 in Cologne, obtained practical education and worked in a merchant firm until 1940. Being on business in Paris in 1927-28 he started studies of Indology and Tibetology.…
MEES, Gualtherus Hendrik (Sadhu Ekarasa). Rotterdam 6.8.1903 — Orsett, Essex 5.6.1955. Dutch Scholar of Religion. Son of Abraham Cornelis Mees (1864–1950) and Louisa Hen van Rijnberk (1873–1949). M.A. 1928 Cambridge, in Law. Then student of Vogel. LL.D. 1935 (?) Leiden. He became a follower of Ramana Maharshi, went to India…
MAUSS, Marcel. Épinal (Vosges) 10.5.1872 — Paris 10.2.1950. French Sociologist and Anthropologist. Born in an Alsatian Jewish family, son of merchant Gerson Mauss and Rosine Durkheim. He had religious education, but abandoned religion when 18. Studied philosophy at Bordeaux under his famous uncle É. Durkheim. After agregation (1895) studied Sanskrit…
MASSON-OURSEL, Paul Louis. Paris 5.9.1882 — Paris 17.3.1956. French Indologist. Studied in Paris Indology (Foucher and Lévi), philosophy (Bergson) and sociology (Durkheim and Mauss), also some Chinese (Chavannes). Agrégé 1906, Ph.D. 1923. Participated in WW I as sergeant. From 1919 chargé de conférences, from 1927 Directeur d’études at É.P.H.É., sciences…
MASSON, Joseph. Montegnée, prov. Liège 21.9.1908 — Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Brussels 1998. Father, S.J. Belgian Indologist, Catholic Priest and Theologian (Scholar of Religions and Missions). Studies at Collège Saint-Servais in Liège and at Jesuit College of Louvain (Leuven). Ordained 1938. Studies at Louvain University. Dr. en philosophie et histoire orientales 1942 Louvain.…
MASPÉRO, Henri Paul Gaston. Paris 15.12.1883 — Buchenwald 17.3.1945. French Sinologist. Son of the Egyptologist Gaston Maspéro (1846–1916, of Italian ancestry) and Louise Balluet d’Estournelles de Constant de Rebecque (1856–1953). After school in Paris he began himself with a study on Hellenistic Egypt, but soon turned into Sinology under Chavannes…